Sao Paulo So:Marin Alsop - Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Written in 1944, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony is one of his greatest and most complete symphonic statements. At its premiere he himself called it a symphony of the grandeur of the human spirit. The first movement couples considerable strength with unexpected yet highly characteristic twists of melody. After a violent scherzo followed by a slow movement of sustained lyricism, with a fiercely dramatic middle section, the finale blazes with barely suppressed passion. The Year 1941 is another wartime work, a symphonic suite written in response to the German invasion of the Soviet Union.